


Same Time, Same Place

by Onthecyberseas



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: First Dates, First Kiss, M/M, Museums, Phone Calls & Telephones, Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-25 07:49:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onthecyberseas/pseuds/Onthecyberseas
Summary: The man who frequents Newt's tour and leaves his phone number behind continues to be a mystery, until Newt finally decides to call.
Relationships: Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 42
Collections: Maze Runner Secret Santa 2019





	Same Time, Same Place

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, newtmsa! I hope you like your gift!

Newt glanced out towards the line of waiting visitors as he unlocked the doors to the museum. Since its opening exactly one month ago, the Museum of Piracy had been crowded every single day. Most of the day’s crowds were filled with families, some of the kids dressed up as pirates themselves, but the museum was visited by people of all ages. Newt glanced down at his own pirate costume, the museum’s required uniform, mustering up the energy for the day’s performance.

Returning his eyes to the crowd, Newt couldn’t help but smile upon seeing a familiar face near the back of the line. The man, who appeared to be around Newt’s age, had an attractive face but an air of mystery about him. Newt had seen him every Saturday morning for the past month. 

Every Saturday, the man took the same tour without saying a single word. At the conclusion, the man would bump into Newt on his way out and Newt would find a piece of paper with the same phone number inscribed on it.

He knew that he should appease his own curiosity and call the number. After all, the man intrigued him, and he couldn’t deny his own attraction to him. However, every time he was seriously considering making the call, it ended in him chickening out. Despite this, the man would arrive every Saturday like clockwork and the cycle would begin all over again.

Newt forced himself to get into character and addressed the line of people in front of him. “Ahoy, mateys! Welcome aboard the Museum of Piracy.” The kids looked up at him with rapt attention, most likely believing that he was really a pirate. A lot of the adults were into it, but a some of them rolled their eyes at the display. “I’m Captain Newt, the most feared pirate in these here seas.”

Pulling his pirate hat off of his head, Newt held it out and declared, “The price to climb aboard my ship is one gold doubloon.” He began to collect the doubloon shaped tickets from the crowd before letting them into the museum lobby. Much of the crowd gasped at the model of a massive pirate ship in the lobby that doubled as the entrance to the museum.

Once the crowd was inside, Newt walked to the edge of the ship. “Who here wants a tour of this fine vessel and to hear some tales of pirates past?” A bunch of families gathered around him, and Newt smiled as the mysterious man also made his way towards him.

“Follow me,” Newt declared, and the crowd followed behind him. He followed the script of the tour word for word as he took the group through the exhibits detailing the history of piracy and the typical life of a pirate. The group listened intently as they looked around at the sights and plaques in each room. Newt kept his eyes on the man as he spoke, and the man looked back at him with his usual entrancing smile.

At the conclusion of the tour, Newt answered questions before bidding the guests luck in finding treasures of their own in the museum’s gift shop. Like clockwork, the man bumped into him on the way out, and Newt felt the familiar piece of paper in the pocket of his costume. He grinned at the familiar numbers inscribed on the paper, as he had pretty much memorized them by now.

“What the hell are you waiting for?” Newt whirled around to face Minho, his friend and coworker, who was smirking at him. Minho was the only other person who knew about his predicament with the mysterious man.

Newt shrugged in an effort to mask his nerves. “What if this is all one big practical joke to him?”

Minho rolled his eyes. “That seems like a colossal waste of time to do all of that just to play a practical joke on someone you’ve never actually met.” Newt tried to argue but had a hard time arguing with Minho’s logic. “If you don’t call him, I will,” Minho declared, holding out his hand for the piece of paper.

“Fine,” Newt said, clutching the paper tighter in his hands. He knew that Minho wouldn’t drop the subject so easily and he couldn’t deny that he really did want to call the number. “I’ll do it at the end of my shift.”

He walked through the door that would take him back to the entrance of the museum and gathered another group for a tour. He continued giving the same tour throughout the day that he had memorized by this point, but his mind kept drifting to the phone number in his pocket and his promise to follow through on it this time.

At the end of his shift, Newt was finally able to change out of his pirate uniform and into his much more comfortable street clothes. He grabbed the piece of paper out of the pocket before shutting his locker. Minho stood at the door as Newt walked out of the locker room and they silently made their way to their favorite bar, The Glade.

“What can I get you?” The bartender asked as Newt and Minho slid into two stools at the end of the bar. Minho gave his order as Newt scoured the drink menu. A particular item caught his eye and Newt gulped, thinking about what he had agreed to do. “Liquid courage,” Newt told the bartender.

The bartended laughed and prepared the aptly named cocktail for him. Newt downed it quickly, feeling the effects of the drink slowly kick in. They paid for their drinks before heading back to Newt’s apartment.

Once they were inside, Newt pulled out his phone. He hesitated for a moment, but the look Minho gave him pushed him into action. “Here goes nothing,” Newt muttered to himself as he dialed the familiar numbers into his phone. He felt his anxiety increase with each ring.

“Hello?” The voice on the other side said and Newt nearly dropped the phone as his heart raced. It was his first time hearing the man speak, but he knew immediately that it was in fact the mysterious man himself.

“Hello,” Newt said, fighting to keep his nerves under control.

Before he could say anything else, the voice said, “I thought you’d never call, Newt.”

Newt froze, the pounding in his heart made it hard for him to think. Minho cleared his throat and Newt regained some semblance of composure. “What’s your name?”

The man on the other end paused. “Thomas,” the man finally said. Newt couldn’t help but smile.

“Hello Thomas,” Newt said. A million questions ran through his mind, but he didn’t know what to ask next. Finally, he asked, “What do you do on days other than Saturday mornings, Thomas?”

Thomas laughed and Newt found himself smiling once again. “Meet me at The Glade tomorrow night at eight and you’ll find out.”

Newt blushed at the proposition and said, “It’s a date.” Thomas hung up and Newt placed his phone on the coffee table. 

“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Minho said from the armchair. Newt nearly jumped, having forgotten that he was still there. “It’s about time you got a boyfriend.”

Newt blushed again. “I’m just meeting him…I’m not…we’re not….” 

Minho laughed at Newt’s stumbling over his words. “Relax, I’m not telling you to elope.” Newt’s blush somehow deepened at the word elope. “Have fun, mate,” Minho said, “You deserve it.” 

“Thank you,” Newt replied as he replayed the conversation with Thomas in his head over and over.

Newt managed to make it through his shift the next day, even though his mind kept wandering to his meeting that evening with Thomas. As soon as his shift ended, he ran to the locker room, changed quickly out of his costume and returned to his apartment to shower and change into more date-appropriate clothes. After some deliberation, he settled on a simple buttoned shirt and jeans, taking one last look in the mirror before heading to the bar.

He looked around upon entering the bar and found Thomas sitting at a table set for two. Newt’s face flushed as Thomas noticed him walking over and smiled at him. “I wasn’t sure if you’d show up,” Thomas confessed as Newt sat down across from him.

Newt paused as he took in Thomas’ handsome face. “I wouldn’t miss this,” he confessed. The waiter came over to them and they placed their orders. After he left, Newt asked, “So, who are you, Thomas?”

Thomas smiled. “I’m a programmer.” After a pause, he clarified, “I design levels for video games.” Newt couldn’t help but be impressed by the tidbit of information. Their drinks arrived soon after and Newt sipped his beer.

“What brings you to the museum every week?” Newt asked.

Smiling, Thomas confessed, “At first, it was for research purposes…My company is working on a new pirate game.” He explained, taking a sip of his own beer. “After that it was because of this handsome tour guide.” Newt blushed at the comment, taking another sip to calm his nerves. “What about you?” Thomas asked, “What made you become a museum tour guide?”

“It’s better than working in a cubicle,” Newt commented. “The pirate stuff is cool, and the pay is decent as well.” A smirk graced his lips and he quickly added, “There’s also this cute guy that comes in every Saturday morning.” Newt gained satisfaction at the sight of Thomas blushing.

Their food arrived shortly after and they talked about themselves as they ate. After Thomas paid the check, they stepped out of The Glade. Newt looked at Thomas, waiting for him to say something. He knew that he didn’t want the night to end just yet.

Clearing his throat, he nervously asked, “Do you want to go somewhere else?”

Thomas looked back at him, a smile forming on his face. “Where did you have in mind?”

Newt paused, trying to come up with an idea. He thought about taking him back to his place, but it was too early for that. After a couple of moments, an idea came to him. “I want to show you something. Inside the museum.”

Thomas’ eyes lit up at the idea, but asked, “Can you do that? Wouldn’t your boss get mad?”

“He won’t mind,” Newt replied as he shook his head. “As long as we don’t break anything, we’re good to go.”

“If that’s the case,” Thomas said, “I would be honored.” Newt held out his hand and Thomas took it as they made their way to the museum. They walked up to the familiar building and Newt punched in his employee code into the keypad at the front door. Once the door opened, he escorted Thomas inside before telling him to stay put as he went to turn the lights on. 

Newt returned to the lobby and led Thomas through the familiar entrance into the museum. Thomas seemed surprised when Newt led him past the traditional start of the tour and asked, “What is it you want to show me?”

Newt didn’t answer, he only beckoned Thomas to follow him. “This is something the public doesn’t get the opportunity to see,” Newt explained. He led Thomas through a door marked Employees Only and turned left upon entering the room. As he stopped in front of a small, narrow staircase, he held out his hand to Thomas.

Thomas took it and Newt led him up the stairs, which led to the top of the massive ship. “Sometimes we like to come up here during our breaks,” Newt explained as they stood on the deck. “Nobody can see us up here, so the manager doesn’t care.”

“It’s beautiful,” Thomas said as he looked around at the view of the museum, clearly in awe of the sight. “It’s exactly how I imagined it would be.” 

Newt smiled. “Feel free to take pictures for your game.” Thomas nodded and pulled out his phone.

Neither of them said a word as Thomas snapped pictures of the deck and the sounds of the waves and music emitting from the speakers filled the room. Finally, Thomas returned to Newt’s side and asked, “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Newt replied. “I figured you’d like it.” He sat down at the edge of the deck and Thomas joined him, looking down at the view below. Slowly, Newt moved his hand toward Thomas, and was pleasantly surprised when Thomas let him slip his fingers in his.

“I’m glad you finally called,” Thomas said after a couple of moments.

Newt smiled back at him. “I’m glad I finally called too.” He found himself staring at Thomas’ lips and felt the urge to kiss him. After a moment of hesitation, he leaned forward and slowly kissed Thomas’ lips. Thomas eagerly reciprocated and Newt felt sparks fill his body at finally getting to kiss the man he had been thinking about for the past month.

They pulled away after several moments and Newt laid his head on Thomas’ shoulder. “I’d like to do this more regularly,” Newt confessed. “Spend time with you,” he quickly clarified.

“Me too,” Thomas nodded in agreement. “I normally leave the office around five. Want to meet for dinner this week?”

Newt grinned back at him. “Definitely.” Thomas leaned in to kiss him again, and Newt felt like he was on top of the world as they kissed and held hands on the top of the museum.

**One Week Later:**

Newt opened the door to the museum with a pep in his step and a much wider smile than usual. Looking out at the line of people, he grinned as his eyes fell on a familiar face. Thomas smiled back at him as Newt welcomed the crowd to the museum but didn’t say a word as he handed Newt his doubloon to enter the museum.

Thomas walked over to Newt as he gathered people for the tour. Newt conducted the tour of the museum he knew by heart, but his eyes kept travelling over to Thomas even more than usual and his mind went to their first kiss and their subsequent kisses over the week.

Newt finished up the tour and bid goodbye to the group outside the gift shop. Like clockwork, Thomas wordlessly bumped into Newt on his way into the gift shop. Newt was surprised to feel yet another piece of paper in his pocket and wondered why Thomas was keeping this part of their tradition.

“I thought you two started dating,” Minho commented as he looked at the piece of paper in Newt’s hand. “Does he think you already lost his number?”

Slowly, Newt unfurled the piece of the paper with Thomas’ familiar handwriting. However, instead of his phone number, the note simply said, Tomorrow. Same time, same place? 

Newt couldn’t help but laugh as he pocketed the piece of paper. He walked back to the front of the museum and gathered the next group for the tour. Nothing could damper his mood, as he felt overjoyed and filled with anticipation of seeing Thomas again.


End file.
